Forum: Minnesota Dirt Track Racing Forum (go)
Moderators: StanM

CZ, Look at the Midwest 305 series or the Midwest Sprint Association engine rules, Those motors can be built for under 10 grand. I have talked to a few of those drivers from the MSA and they are having fun running that series. Plus the MSA puts on a tire that will last about 5 races before you have to throw it away. As far as purse, I have tried to get more money for the sprint cars and have failed. I feel the 360 (ascs) car should be getting somewhere in the area of aleast 2K to win and 300 to start with the amount of money they have in them. But that isn't going to happen. And talking to the promoters that I know, they are not willing to put out the purse for an ASCS show when the tracks around here can put on an unsanctioned race and not have to pay ASCS purses and sanctioning fees and still get the same cars. I don't have the answers, but if sprint car racing is going to stay around here, something needs to be done to make it more affordable to all that wants to race them. I keep writing about non-wing, I talked to Dave Darland last weekend and was talking to him about non-wing and he just laughed. Sure non-wing can be dangerous if run on a track that is bigger then 3/8, but to me, put them on a small track and you will have some good side by side racing. Like Stan wrote about, most of the drivers around here have never tried non-wing because they weren't even born yet, but I think they'd like it once they got used to it and it would be easier on the cars. And don't say they crash hard, if you crash a car on a 1/2 mile (Knoxville), chances are pretty good that that car will be junk. So, the bottom line to me, ASCS (motor cost) or IMCA (claim rule/purse) is not the answer to me, something in the middle needs to be done. Everyone knows, if we can come up with some kind of solution, I would be there to help, but we have to make it track owner friendly too.

If you want to try something different chuckp I'll be there taking pictures and whatever we can to get the word out. There are a lot of people who are getting fed up with being force fed the same lineup at every track around here and they'd love to see weekly Sprint Cars again.

Stan Meissner

Seems to me you live in the wrong place for sprint's . I live within 100 mi's of 6 tracks that run a variety of sprints from 305's to 410's that pay up to $3000.00 to win weekly, 90 mi.'s from my home - Non-winged cars run ever Fri. night 55 mi's from home I'm 18 mi's from Jackson . The cars are here, plenty of them, from Knoxville regulars to modifieds coming out your ars. you can watch sprints Fri . , Sat. ,& Sun. every week till mid Sept. Your just not living in Sprint territory, it's that simple. We all have jobs here. Move.

Trigger20, you got that right

We have the same type of situation here with the Late Models. Five weekly tracks within 140 miles and specials that pay from $10,000 to $50,000 to win.

Stan Meissner

You can keep the fender cars I'll stick to sprints. WoO will be here 4 times this season as close ar 20 mi.s from my front door. 3 shows 90 mi.s There is actually a traveling series out of Jackson Speedway this season that will bring winged sprints to more tracks than the 6 I mentioned in my ealier post within 100 mi.s of Jackson , one being about 30 mi.s from there Worthington Speedway 3/8 mi. track , a few others in S.W. Mn in the works I understand . I expect a good car count at the Jackson Sprint Car Spring Nationals May 9th $2500 to win good payout thoughout the whole field, it will be the biggest all sprint show this time of year in the upper midwest . So forget your fenders & come on down. Should be a great car count for a purse that big that early in the season.

We don't have the quantity of Sprint races but the quality is pretty good. There are quite a few IRA and WoO races within an hour and a half. I'm planning on going to Jackson for the Friday night all Sprint shows and to the USAC Midgets on the asphalt at LaCrosse Fairgrounds next month. All the Sprint races at Cedar, the Princeton National and IRA races at Rice Lake, Menomonie and possibly Superior. The Billy Anderson Memorial at Cedar Lake the end of this month if the weather ever warms up. I've got writing deadlines due on Sundays and an ol' Ranger without cruise or AC so that limits my travel during the hottest months of the summer.

Stan Meissner

Hope to see you you there Stan . Will you be in the pits taking pic's?

You're right, it's time to move.

Let's see SW Minnesota or South Central Indiana?

Jackson, Rock Rapids & Husets or Kokomo, Bloomington, Gas City, Lawrenceburg, Putnumville, Brownstown, Paragon, Terre Haute or Haubstadt?

Time to learn the words to "Back Home Again in Indiana"!

Go to Indiana if you want , but your taser story was top notch buddy. Trigger20

I'm locked into the Twin Cities. Job, relatives, grandkids, everything and everyone is up here. I'd like to see the look on the non-race-fan wife's face if I told her to pack up, we're moving to Indiana to get closer to Sprint Car racing. Not to mention that Indiana is CSXT and NS territory so that would be another challenge...

Stan Meissner

Do a count on where the last 2 Time WoO champion came from sure as hell wasn't Indiana! Donnie Schatz Fargo ,Grand Forks ,Brandon S.D . ... How about Doug Wolfgang, Sioux Fall's SD Native , if he wasn't one of the best sprint car drivers ever I don'twho was ? Terry Mc Carl , Danny Lasoski , Justin Henderson, All local driver's Put are boys up against any Indiana drivers. Stay here Stan ,much shorter commute. The magic happens here in S.W. Mn S.E SD. NW IA. Come have some fun!

Good point. Tatnell, Richert and Kouba are all nearby and Dollansky's shop is about 50 minutes. Schatz ran almost every week at Cedar Lake when he was running 360's. And we see Late Model drivers like Bloomquist, Moyer, Pearson, Mars, pretty often right in our back yard. Matter of fact I know some pretty good local Late Model and Modified drivers. And we just had a Badger Midget race a couple weekends ago. Princeton National, the Masters, the CLS WoO show and a half dozen IRA races within an hour and a half.

Outside of not being able to watch Sprints every week I'm not feeling deprived.

Stan Meissner

Must be tough being married to someone who doesn't like racing, how did you stay together all these years?
I'm very fortunate as my other half is into racing. The first channel she turns the tv to is SPEED, and tapes every Cup Race religiously. We have been to numerous tracks around the eastern half of the U.S.
Seems strange to me when I go to a race without her.

Fortunate? That's a matter of opinion Willie. I like going to the races by myself with no distractions. There's no way I could take photos and run around the grounds all night with Deb by my side. She's a great lady but not someone I'd want to take to the races.

Remember the name Buzz McCann? He was her uncle. Her dad owned a repair shop and knew the Wagners and Scratch Daniels. He helped Buzz and a few other guys with their cars in his younger days and one of his mechanics used to work on a Supermodified in his shop. I have dragged her brothers out to the track and one of them knows Jerry Richert Jr. and a few other racers. Her aunt's sister was the wife of a 360 driver who lost his life at Husets. Racing has been around her family but none of them care for it. Even her cousin Buzzy Jr. doesn't go to the races and they all think I'm nuts. They're probably half right.

Stan Meissner